Life Arctos Project on the Conservation of the Brown Bear in Italy

Pescasseroli, 27 Ott 10 - On 21st and 22nd October, in the Head Offices of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the first coordination meeting of the European LIFE Project "Brown Bear Conservation: Coordinated actions for the Alpine and the Apennines range" - ARCTOS was held.

The LIFE Project, lasting four years, includes a series of actions aimed at the conservation of the Brown Bear in Italy. The Park will play the role of lead Authority and coordinator of the various partners.

Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Adamello Brenta Park, Regione Lombardia, Regione Lazio, Regione Abruzzo, the Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin" of University La Sapienza of Rome, the National Forest Service, and WWF Italia took part in the meeting which was opened by the Park Director Vittorio Ducoli and chaired by the head of the Park Scientific Department, Cinzia Sulli. Through the discussion and assessment of the development of the actions that each partner will have to implement together with the others, the meeting was closed drawing up a detailed work plan regarding the first two years of the project.

The actions will be implemented in Italy, in the Alpine and the Apennines range of the Brown Bear. In the Apennines, actions have been scheduled in a large territory populated by the Marsican Brown Bear, including both the areas where its presence is permanent and the areas of connection and expansion. In the Alps, actions have been scheduled in two different areas: the so-called "core area", the bear distribution range in Provincia Autonoma di Trento, with the fringe areas including eastern Lombardy, and the area of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, including a large strip running along the border with north-western Slovenia.